Charles Oliveira expects to successfully defend his lightweight title when he faces Dustin Poirier.
After Poirier beat Conor McGregor at UFC 264 in their trilogy bout, it cemented himself as the top contender and earned him a lightweight title shot. However, for Oliveira, he thought McGregor would end up winning but wasn’t too surprised to see Poirier get his hand raised.
“I thought Conor was favorite until the second round,” Oliveira told Sherdog.com. “From the third on, I thought Poirier would take it. But Dustin impressed me a lot, always walking forward, showing a great ground-and-pound game. When Conor stood up, he was already tired when the injury happened.”
With Poirier winning, it sets himself up to face Oliveira for the belt later this year or early next. Although there is no date set, “The Diamond” opened as the betting favorite. However, for Oliveira, he has a ton of confidence as he believes he’s better than Poirier everywhere.
“Actually that fight should have occurred in May, but Dustin preferred to fight Conor, so they had Chandler face me,” Oliveira said. “I will not change my style to face anyone. We both like to exchange punches, we both like to fight on the ground, but I believe I´m more complete than him everywhere. I’m sure it will be a war.”
Oliveira is likely the better grappler and if he can get the fight to the ground, he will have success. Yet, on the feet, Poirier is one of the best boxers in the lightweight division. However, Oliveira does have KO power, as we saw against Michael Chandler, and he has unique striking.
Regardless, it’s a very intriguing fight between Oliveira and Poirier that many will be looking forward to.
Who do you think will win when they fight, Charles Oliveira or Dustin Poirier?
